There are three government departments which are involved in the importation and registration of motor vehicles to Hong Kong, they are namely the Customs and Excise Department, Environmental Protection Department and Transport department. The following guidelines help to explain the procedures that were required by respective departments.
Step 1 : Compliance with the Exhaust and Noise Emissions Standard
You are advised to obtain approval / exemption from the Environmental Protection Department before shipping your vehicle into Hong Kong.
You are required to prove your vehicle is fully compliant with the emission standards in the Air Pollution Control (Vehicle Design Standards)(Emission) Regulation and Noise Control (Motor Vehicles) Regulation. Proof of emission compliance can be documents issued by vehicle manufacturers or emission testing report issued by an approved test laboratory. You should submit application form to the Environmental Protection Department for approval together with all original supporting documents.
Subject to the fulfillment of exemption criteria, certain catergories of vehicles may be exempted from complying the exhaust emission standard. You may apply to the Environmental Protection Department for the exemption. Enquiries on approved test laboratories, emission standards and exemption criteria can be made to telephone numbers: (852)2877 0448 (Exhaust emission); (852)2411 9665 (Noise emission) or fax number: (852)2824 9361.
Step 2 : Importation
Vehicles, no matter whether it is a company car or not, imported into Hong Kong are not subject to any Customs tax, but in general, an importer is required to lodge with the Customs and Excise Department an accurate and complete declaration within 14 days of importation. For importer already registered with one of the two service providers appointed by the Government, he can lodge import declaration to the Government directly from his personal computer. For occasional importer and individual, they can lodge import declarations at the service centres set up by the service providers and their partners to convert paper declarations for electronic transmission. For further information about the electronic lodgement service, or to register for using the service, please call (in alphabetical order) Global e-Trading Services Ltd at 8201 0082, or Tradelink Electronic Commerce Ltd at 2599 1700.
Also, within 30 days of the importation of your vehicle, you should submit an Import Return (Form No.: CED336) enclosing with a Declaration Form (Form No.: CED336A) to the Customs and Excise Department. Enquiries on the submission of CED336 and CED336A can be made at Tel No.: (852) 2231 4390.
Any importer of a motor vehicle for use in Hong Kong, fails to file the import return within 30 days of the importation of a motor vehicle into Hong Kong, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of $500,000 and to imprisonment for 12 months.
Following the submission of your Import Return, you will receive a "Notification of Motor Vehicle Provisional Taxable Value" of your vehicle from the Customs and Excise Department. The Notification should be produced on first registration of your vehicle in the Transport Department.
Step 3 : Vehicle Examination
You should approach To Kwa Wan Vehicle Examination Centre for inspection of your private car and produce either the original certificate or original letter of exemption to prove that your car had complied with the vehicle emissions standard. Vehicle examination should be subject to payment of vehicle examination fee. If your vehicle can pass the vehicle examination, you will receive a Certificate of Roadworthiness from the Examination Centre. Enquiries on vehicle examination can be made on Tel No.: (852) 2333 3112.
Step 4 : Vehicle Registration and Licensing
When applying for first registration of your vehicle, you should submit a completed application form (Form No.: TD22 ) to the Hong Kong Licensing Office of Transport Department (Tel No.: (852) 2804 2637 or Fax No.: 2804 2599) together with the supporting documents as prescribed in the application form. Upon the verification of your submitted document, you are required to pay first registration tax and registration fee for the registration of your vehicle, and pay vehicle licence fee and levy for Traffic Accident Victim Assistance Fund for licensing of the vehicle.
Step 5 : Calculation of First Registration Tax
The first registration tax will be derived from the taxable value of your vehicle times the appropriate tax rate. The rate is as shown below :-
| Class of Motor Vehicle | Rate of Tax | |||
| Private cars | ||||
|
35% | |||
|
65% | |||
|
85% | |||
|
100% | |||
| Motor cycles and motor tricycles | 35% | |||
|
15% | |||
|
||||
|
35% | |||
|
65% | |||
|
85% | |||
|
17% | |||
| Taxis, Light buses, Buses and Special purpose vehicles | 3.7% |
In the case where the price of your vehicle is expressed in foreign currency, in calculating the taxable value, the opening indicative counter exchange selling rate published by the Hong Kong Association of Banks on the date of importation of your vehicle will be taken as the exchange rate of the foreign currency.
Application for the registration and licensing of a left hand drive vehicle will not be accepted unless there are special circumstances.
For the "Procedures for Importation and Registration of Motor Vehicles and Motor Cycles", please click here 
(2.00 MB).
Notes for attention :
With effect from 16 September 2008, applicants are required to produce address proof issued within the last three months (e.g. water/electricity/gas bill and bank correspondence) when applying for the Registration of Vehicle, First Issue of Learner's Driving Licence / Full Driving Licence / Driving Instructor's Licence / Temporary Driving Licence / Vehicle Licence, Renewal of Full Driving Licence / Vehicle Licence, Direct Issue of Full Driving Licence and Change of Address. Transport Department may suspend the processing of the above applications until the production of address proof.
